Pokémon in New Zealand

This article contains old or outdated information, or has not been updated in a while. Please check the content of this article and update it as required. Specifically, it needs info due to Chuang Yi going out of business, is NZ now receiving VIZ Media or Shogakukan Asia translations?.

Contents

Pokémon games

All Pokémon games that have been released in the United States have also been released in New Zealand, with the exception of the Pokémon mini. The country of origin for each game tends to differ depending on retailer availability; some games are imported from the United States, but others are from the Australian release. The New Zealand release dates tend to be on or around the Australian release dates. An English language release of Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure was released in New Zealand, despite the title never being released in North America.

Games that are imported from the US are naturally inconsistent with New Zealand spelling rules. For example, spelling variations such as color and center are not changed to colour and centre for the New Zealand releases. Games sourced from Australia also have this problem, despite New Zealand English and Australian English being largely identical in terms of spelling rules.

Event Pokémon have been released in New Zealand sporadically. The recent introduction of Wi-Fi events has allowed New Zealand players access to many previously unavailable event Pokémon. Prior to this, very few event Pokémon were made available to New Zealand players, and when events at malls and other stores were held, many parts of the country were overlooked.

Pokémon manga

Pokémon manga titles translated by Chuang Yi were previously available in New Zealand, distributed by Madman Entertainment. Pokémon manga is somewhat hard to find in New Zealand, but can be obtained in specialist shops.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

When first released, the game was very popular among New Zealand children. It was eventually banned in most schools, due to it being a "classroom distraction".[1] Conflict between students regarding Trading Cards as well as perceived gambling issues resulted in the cards being banned from some schools. Its popularity faded out as it was replaced by other popular crazes such as Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

Pokémon merchandise

New Zealand received most of the same Pokémon merchandise that is available in the United States, such as plush toys which were released in major department chains and given away in some fast food restaurants. Due to its decline in popularity, merchandise can be difficult to find in New Zealand stores, but can still be purchased online.[2]